NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

debunix wrote:Pleasant to start the tea day with lovely things. Were the wan and the kyusu a matched set? Just wondering whether the kyusu will stain with the fine network of beautiful crackles I think I can make out on the inside of the wan.

Sorry, phone photos ...

The light blue is like crackled glass, more so than most Hagi I observed.

The crackle staining is still ... young ... and exhibits the awkwardness of youth. To me, it seems many blue glazes in Hagi are more intermintent and sporadic in their staining of crackles ... like they are still trying to figure out how to stain ... if that makes sense?

Other hagi glazes often seem to be born to stain, it is in their genes, instinct.

Sooo, I was sipping sencha Asatsuyu Special Edition ... 5th steep I filled my rather large Mukuhara Kashun Kyusu to the rim figuring to pour it into a tumbler with ice.

Being at my mother's, I looked up into her glass cabinet which is straight ahead ... as I have done countless times. Suddenly inspiration struck when I saw all her Baccarat crystal in various forms ... that have sat idle for over a decade. And there they were, tall tumblers. I gingerly picked one, and the rest is history.

Sweet set, and that is one splendid kyusu. Mine from that same SO is my favorite kyusu (saying that quietly so the others don't get jealous)--such a pleasure aesthetically as well as practically. It rarely gets used with the cups from the same SO, however, as the size-matched cups were a gifted to a tea friend, so I don't get that same effects of all the matching pieces on the tea tray....

First artisan Kyusu I purchased was a Tokoname by Kenji (well, technically I bought 4 artisan Kyusu in that order). Up to that point it was pretty generic but very functional Kyusu, though a couple were not so functional in the screen realm. But going back to that time, if I saw a Kyusu, I simply bought it as there were not many available to the West, beggers could not be choosers!

Back then it seemed TCers fell in love with this Kyusu as I recall at least 6 TCers purchasing it, and I am certain there were more. It is a bit big by my standards nowadays, but its outstanding performance today proves a point that a Kyusu can be filled around 1/3 full and still brew great sencha.

BTW, this Kyusu is still available on Artistic Nippon. I have asked Toru to keep an eye open for a smaller version with the same textured kokudei effect. I think Toru is a bit off in his description of this Kyusu as I think more correctly it could be described as reduction fired and then a lightly abrasive cloth is rubbed over the non-cut ridges revealing the red underneath. But what do I know, I am just a country teaman.

Regardless, it is a great Kyusu. I will have to take a photo that reveals the striking patina on the inside.

Shimizu Ken Nosaka clay Kyusu reduction fired, 200 ml ... maybe.Shawn-Yaki (Greenwood Studio) Flying-Saucer Cup ... love the very subtle and partial crawl on this one. And of course, his Yuzamashi seemingly forever in the background like Alfred Hitchcock passing through ... not so important to the photo but important to the big picture (metaphorically speaking) ... something like that.